Chapter 323 Career Peak

Chapter 323: Career Peak

When the last sect name on the map was finally checked off, Shang Yunduo felt the thrill of scratching off a winning lottery ticket.

He still couldn't quite believe it.

To make sure he hadn't missed anything, he rolled the scroll back up and started over from the top, checking each one.

There were the first batch of names written based on various maps; later additions of small sects that didn't appear on any map; the "sects" that weren't really sects—demon-cultivator hangouts—which he'd purposely written in a different color; and the various clans that were the hardest to track down, known only through word of mouth or chance encounters; and finally, towns of a certain size, like Sifang City, where immortals and mortals lived side by side.

One after another.

Up close, the jumble of colors looked messy, but from far enough away, it looked like an ink-wash painting.

It was a sight to behold.

"Heh heh."

Every name brought back memories of the people he'd fought from that sect.

So many memories...

Shang Yunduo thought, a little wistfully—these sect names could be the chapter titles of his diary over the years.

He counted for a good long while, finally reaching the last one. Every single one checked off. Shang Yunduo froze, then dropped the scroll, let out a loud "Ahh!", and flopped backward into the flower bed on the Falling Snow Boat.

Pei Jie heard his dramatic, excited yell and came out of his cave, only to find Shang Yunduo lying in the flowers with his scroll that looked like a swimming dragon, Shang Yunduo sprawled out like a starfish, arms and legs flailing.

"What's going on?"

"Senior!" Shang Yunduo sprang up like a leaping carp, rushed over, and hugged Pei Jie, spinning him around. "It's done! All the sects have taken the Heart Demon Oath!"

Pei Jie was slightly surprised.

He'd known there weren't many left, but he hadn't expected today to be the last one.

They'd gone over casually, found the other party had already sworn the oath, and left just as casually.

Shang Yunduo had even insisted they not leave empty-handed, so he'd bought some snacks and trinkets nearby, plus some herbs. Pei Jie had also picked up some materials, planning to re-refine Shang Yunduo's alchemy furnace.

As uneventful as a supply run.

A far cry from the beginning, when they'd had to fight at every stop and force people to swear the oath.

For something so remarkable—enough to shake the entire cultivation world and earn a place in its history—this ending felt almost anticlimactic.

But Shang Yunduo, who'd spent nearly twenty years making something happen that had once seemed impossible, showed no disappointment at all. He was just bouncing with excitement, shouting, "I'm going to get this map framed!"

Pei Jie: "..."

Shang Yunduo: "And I need to give it a kick-ass name... what should it be... hmm... let's call it CAREER PEAK!"

Pei Jie laughed.

He really should've known better than to expect Shang Yunduo to come up with a normal-sounding name.

Shang Yunduo grabbed his shoulders and shook him: "You write it for me, Senior! You write it! Once it's framed, we'll hang it up!"

Pei Jie actually wrote it for him.

He even framed it himself.

The scroll was too long—they'd tried several shops, run by both mortals and cultivators, and none could handle it.

But word that Shang Yunduo had gotten every sect to swear the Heart Demon Oath spread from the framing shops like wildfire, quickly reaching the whole cultivation world.

The framer suggested cutting it into sections, framing each piece, then joining them back together. Shang Yunduo wasn't into that, so Pei Jie just bought some tools and brought them back to the Falling Snow Boat to do it himself.

When it needed to dry, they stuck it to the huge beast-bone wall of the cave.

Shang Yunduo hovered nearby, helping Pei Jie.

Even though his control over spiritual herbs when refining pills was already razor-sharp, he always felt clumsy at times like this. He just handed things to Pei Jie and kept up a constant stream of compliments.

After all these years, Pei Jie still hadn't gotten tired of his heartfelt flattery. Occasionally, when he thought Shang Yunduo was laying it on too thick, he'd turn his head and laugh. Shang Yunduo would then lean in for a kiss and a hug.

A Bai, who'd long been unable to take it, had gone off on his own cultivation journey as soon as he hit the Foundation Establishment stage, and Kong Yu had also learned that when it was just the two of them, he should actively make himself scarce. Those two weren't sick of it—they were the ones who were sick of it!

Once the scroll was framed, Shang Yunduo gleefully admired his "Career Peak" and asked Pei Jie to add both their names.

Pei Jie: "Now?"

Shang Yunduo: "Mm-hm-hm! It's not like it's a painting that can't have writing on it. Senior, write Pei Jie and Shang Yunduo—put your name down first."

Pei Jie: "My name first?"

Shang Yunduo: "Mm! Senior, you get ninety percent of the credit!"

Without Pei Jie, his ideas would've been nothing but pipe dreams.

With Pei Jie, others had no choice but to cave and swear the oath.

Pei Jie laughed, but when he picked up the brush, he wrote Shang Yunduo's name down first. "No need to be so modest. Your decision counts for eighty percent of the credit. As for the remaining twenty, we'll split it evenly."

The so-called number one below Divine Transformation—every Deity Transformation cultivator had once held that title, and who knew how many had reached the Nascent Soul peak only to stall before transformation.

If they'd wanted to, countless people could've gone door to door forcing others to swear oaths, but not a single one had wanted to—including him.

Without Shang Yunduo, he'd never have been interested in doing any of this.

Shang Yunduo was still staring at him, dumbfounded.

Pei Jie set down the brush and ruffled Shang Yunduo's hair hard.

From the start, he'd been eighty percent sure they could do it. For the remaining twenty, they'd just wing it.

But Shang Yunduo was different—he'd had no confidence at all, no idea how hard this really was. To him, everything had been like fog and mud, yet he'd still decided to just go for it.

Even if they failed, at least he'd have a clean conscience.

Shang Yunduo bought offerings and went to find the strangers who'd once lent him their power but whom he hadn't been able to repay while they were alive.

Even while Pei Jie was still in deep slumber, he'd started slowly fulfilling those promises.

Back then, he'd been weak and alone, anxious and unsettled—a total mess.

It wasn't until he'd gone to see Wen Fei again and attended his funeral that he decided he couldn't keep hiding out in the Endless Sandbar.

Compared to mortals, he could do so much more—at the very least, he had to keep his word.

So he began helping mortals in Wentian City and elsewhere, refining elixir recipes, and started tracking down, from memory, the people who had lent him power back then.

Those concrete wishes were easy enough to grant—whether they wanted to taste something, drink something, have something, play with something, see something... even if they wanted riches or a long life, he could find a way to make it happen.

But when it came to peace, tranquility, or a happy life, he had no clue what to do.

On his own, he could never hope to repair the barrier at Boundary Mountain, let alone guarantee the demon beasts would never set foot in the human realm again.

So all he could do was set up formations around them.

But how many formations could one man possibly set up?

And with just these little defensive formations, how many people could he actually protect?

How was he supposed to set up formations for the whole world?

Later, once Eight Directions City was built, things got a bit easier—he could go door to door and ask, "Would you folks be willing to move to Eight Directions City?"

As long as he was alive, he could guarantee the city wouldn't be bothered by demon beasts, that cultivators wouldn't oppress them, and that peace and quiet would hold.

But plenty of people just didn't want to move, and some still didn't trust him—didn't believe he'd really help them.

So the only real solution was to change the cultivation world itself.

That was also one of the original reasons he made every sect swear the Heart Demon Oath.

Though for a lot of people, that result still came too late.

After all these years, the trees over their graves had grown pretty tall.

After walking past a few places, Shang Yunduo pulled Pei Jie aside and hid with him outside a farmhouse courtyard. "The one I remember the most is him."

Shang Yunduo pointed at a middle-aged man fixing farm tools in the yard. "Back then, when I asked him what he wished for, he said his wish was to help me."

Pei Jie also remembered Shang Yunduo talking about a kid like that.

Shang Yunduo: "Later, I went back to find him and asked if he had any other wishes. He said he hadn't done anything, period. I told him I was a cultivator, and since he'd helped me back then, I could repay him. He didn't want a thing—he just smiled and said his wish had already come true."

Too bad the kid had grown into a man, and the kid he'd fathered was almost old enough to have kids of his own, before Shang Yunduo finally fulfilled even a small part of this grandfather's wish—the man who had also helped him.

His wish was for peace under heaven.

But bringing peace to the world was just too hard.

Even after forcing the sects near Boundary Mountain to build barriers, making every sect swear the Heart Demon Oath, and working hard to give mortals weapons against demon beasts and cultivators, Shang Yunduo still had no idea how far they were from peace.

Probably it could never be done.

Even the immortals couldn't manage it.

In that case, as long as he did what he could and didn't let the Heart Demon get to him, that was enough.

Shang Yunduo reinforced the formation around the house, then turned and said, "Senior, let's go traveling too!"

Pei Jie: "Huh?"

Shang Yunduo: "To the demon clan!"

Pei Jie: "To go see Pei Shou?"

Shang Yunduo blinked: "Huh?"

Pei Jie: "Isn't that what you and A Bai talked about?"

Shang Yunduo said sheepishly, "So you knew."

Pei Jie turned away: "Then I don't know."

Shang Yunduo chuckled, caught up, and tugged at his sleeve, swinging it as they walked. "You don't have to help me."

Pei Jie: "Mm. I'm not helping anyone."

Two months passed.

Pei Shou, blocked yet again, stared at Pei Jie blocking his path and laughed in exasperation. "Senior Brother, you're blocking my way and calling that not helping anyone?!"

Pei Jie's expression didn't even flicker: "I haven't even drawn my sword, have I?"

Pei Shou: "Then get out of my way!"

Pei Jie shook his head: "The grudge between you two has to be settled sooner or later. Since it has to be settled, why not today? Might as well do it now."

Pei Shou: "Can't you tell I'm hurt?"

Pei Jie: "You're at Nascent Soul. He's at Foundation Establishment."

Pei Shou laughed: "Ha, Senior Brother, you two have gotten pretty famous these past few years. Even holed up in the demon clan, I've heard all about the Heart Demon's number one. He's got the Sea-Subduing Flag and the Kunze Lamp—do you think I'm an idiot?"

Pei Jie: "Then do you want to wait until his cultivation's higher?"

Pei Shou: "..."

For a second, he couldn't tell whose side Pei Jie was really on.

Pei Shou asked warily, "You really won't help him?"

Pei Jie shook his head and affirmed, "I won't."

Pei Shou: "What if I kill him?"

Pei Jie: "I'll avenge him."

Pei Shou: "..."

A Bai, who had caught up: "..."

"???!" Shang Yunduo stopped abruptly. "Senior?"

Pei Shou: "Ha, what if he kills me?"

Pei Jie: "Between you two, the fault was originally yours."

Pei Shou laughed in fury again, veins bulging on his sword hand: "Fine, fine, fine—what a great 'not helping anyone' that is!"

Author's note:

Pei Shou: Do you hear how that sounds? Huh?!

Pei Jie: There's no flaw in the logic.